Uncharted 4 Multiplayer Has Microtransactions

Naughty Dog has revealed that Uncharted 4 will have a combination of in-game currency and real money microtransactions for the game's competitive multiplayer mode. Lead multiplayer designer Robert Cogburn made the revelation during this past week's Paris Games Week.

Gamespot managed to toss a few questions Cogburn's way, doing due diligence to ask about whether or not Uncharted 4 would be featuring microtansactions. According to Cogburn...

According to the multiplayer designer, the weapons in the multiplayer mode can be earned with in-game currency or they can be paid for day and date when Uncharted 4 launches.

The game will feature brand new weapons and items not present in the single-player mode, including special magic items and relics that grant players special abilities during combat. This is a big departure from the more straight-laced deathmatch equipment in Uncharted 3 and Naughty Dog's more recent third-person survival-drama, The Last of Us. On the upside, they won't be locking content behind a paywall so everything they make available in the multiplayer store in Uncharted 4 can be earned by grinding.

Speaking of grinding, the purpose of running a multiplayer beta test is to gather info and use it to find out just what the playing habits are so Naughty Dog can fine tune the microtransaction costs and the leveling system for the weapons and items. The developers want to find a balance between just the right amount of grind and that urge to actually spend real money in addition to the $60 that was already spent on the game.

This whole microtransaction talk did not go down well with some gamers. While some gamers were okay with the news given that they were just happy that there were no paywall weapons or cash shop exclusive bonus items, others were right-out furious. The addition of microtransactions into a $60 game has many gamers feeling as if it's just a cheap cash-grab.

While Cogburn mentions that the microtransactions in Uncharted 4 are completely optional, a few users in the Gamespot comment section brought up a really good point: what happens on day one when someone decides to pay to unlock all the good weapons while others decide to grind for the good stuff? Essentially it creates a pay-to-win atmosphere because the people who pay for the good gear will be able to out-shoot, out-damage and out-kill those who don't pay for the good stuff.

The only solution would be to restrict weapons to levels and then further restrict what weapons players will be able to purchase from the cash shop for their level. Even then players with money to burn can still just buy the highest level weapons for their level.

We've seen other $60 AAA titles take a similar route as well, implementing optional systems that encourage microtransaction purchases, such as Rise of the Tomb Raider and just recently Payday 2.

Uncharted 4 is due for release exclusively on March 18th, 2016 for the PS4. The game's multiplayer will run at 900p and 60fps while the single-player will be 1080p and 30fps.